Respiratory headgear



March 26, 1929. A. B. DRAGER RESPIRATDRY HEADGEAR Filed June 11, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f R m0 W m B R M N m E L (MI MW March 26, 1929. A. B. DRAGER 1,706,602

RESPIRATORY HEADGEAR Filed June 11,,1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 liaten te'e'd Mar. 26', 1929.

UNITED (STATES, PATENT OFFICE.

unxnlvnnn BERNHARD nnicnafor nunncx, GERMANY, ELIERIEDE nniisnn, as:

seamen, nxnco'rnrx or sun Damian, DECEASED.

RESPIRATORY HEADGEAB.

Application filed June 11, 1926, Serial No. 115,171, and in Germany June 29, 1925.

1 respiratory apparatus, in which brea hing is done through amouth-piece, it is essentlal, especially ior life saving. Work in mines, that the .parts of-the mouth-piece '5 should be so attached to the head of the wearer, thatin spite of sharp, pulls or such hasty movements, which experience has shown often occur in connection with lifesaving work underground, said portions of the mouth-piececannotbe pulled out of the mouth or at least cannot be so displaced, that the danger arises of the wearer breathing in noxious gases or external air. It will readily be apparent, that the correct solu- 16 tion of this: problem determinesthe practical value oftherespiratory apparatus or is at least of a nature to materially influence it. It has already been proposed toefiect a secure attachment of the parts which serve 20 for breathing through the mouth-piece, by

connecting them with a cap or "head-piece. The present invention has the same 0b ect but involves new means, which will provide that the head-piece for its own part shall rest firmly and securely on the wearers head, whilst'at the same time itshall form an-efiec'tive protection 1 to the skull of the 'wearer against external 'in ur1es such, for 1 example, as mi ht be caused by falling stones, blows or unexpected impacts. The

means, according to the invention, .for realizing these objects comprlses-chiefly. a guardplate provided within the head-piece and preferably crown-shaped of leather or other suitable material.

The straps b which the mouth-piece is attached may be passed over. the guard plate, if the latter is crown-shaped. This will be particularly preferred if instead of 40 a simple mouth-piece a mask is used, or the straps may be detachably or firmly secured to the guard-plate itself.

In connection with the invention other features may be made useio f as will be well understood from the deecription given below. 1

The accompanying rious constructional examples of the invention.

head showing the mouthpiece of a respiratory apparatus in position with the'headpiece in section.

' Fig. 2 is" a reduced lateral elevation of 65 Fig. 1 once reduced scale.

external cap and the inner protective plate cap to a reduced scale.

plate connected with a mask adapted to be 'ing of the plates is effected preferably by drawings 'show'i va Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a pers'o ns Figs. 3 and 4 show the upper part of the wearershead ills/front elevation, the head piece in positio thereon being in sections Flg. 5 is a .plan'of the wearers head, the

being omitted in orde'ito show the ringshaped bearingsurface 'of the protective plate. V

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectionof a' modification in which the mouth-piece is replaced by a mask.

Fig. 7 is a lateral elevation of a detached Fig. 8 is a lateral elevation of the guard used together with the cap shown in Fig. i

Fig. 9 is a plan'of Fig. 8. Fig, .10 a section of theguard plate shown 1n Figs. 8 and 9. 1 i

Fig. 11 is'a. cap' provided with a modified guard plate. z

Fig. 12 is a cross section of said cap, and Fig. 13a section drawn to the line 13-13 of Fig. 12 to a somewhat larger scale.

According to Figs. 1 and 2 the mouthplece o1 placed partly in the wearers mouth together with its pertinent parts, "such as the nose-clip b, saliva trap c and breathing tubes 09 and e, is attached to the head-piece 'h' .by means of the straps and g. Inside the S5.

cap h the protective plate 15, which for example may be made of leather is so adjusted, that it will bear directly upon the wearers head (Fig. 1).. The attachment or fastenattaching it to the external crown of the a cap 70 (Fig. 1) by means of light rivets m, l or by sewing or gluing it into the crown with a a suitable adhesive. The external shape of the capv It thus is somewhat modified. The upper crown of the cap k in order to prevent bndin is preferably also made aof a resistant or stiff material or is combined with some other, material. The protective plate 5 is. preferably provided-with an annular-surface n (Figs. 1 and5) to act as a bearingsurface, which is jformed by reason of the fact that the central surface 0 (Fig;

.1) of the protective plate is dome d towards the top. This notfonly-has no prejudicial 105 efie ct upon thetight fit of the head-piece,

which is then securedsolely by means of the annular bearing surface n adapting itself to the top of the skull,-but-the advantage is also obtained, that thewearers head is leftex- 11 I posed in the centre, and in this way there is provided a layer of air between the plate Z and the head. The annular flat surface a need not. be arranged at the utmost edge of the protectiveplate, but may be disposed at a greater or less distance from such edge, as is shown in Fig. 10. A circulation of this A air can be secured by means of small holes 1 and Q'provided in the cap it and the plate 2' respc ctively (Figs. 6 to 8); In order to ensure a still more comfortable fit of the protective-plate z the latter can be lined or padded upon the side facing the head. In F ig. 4 a padding or lining is shown fastened in the form of a ring-shaped roll p, in a protective-plate i that is not domed. In this construction the lining simultaneously fulfills the' duties of the annular bearing surface a, and of the dome 0 shown in Fig. 1, because the roll p creates an intermediate space between the centre of the plate and the head of the wearer. It is however also possible, and occasionally preferable, to provide the edge-surface of the protective plate shown in Fig. 1 with a lining.

The above described straps instead of being attached to the head piece 70, may be attachedto the protective-plate itself, as is shown in Fig. 6.

In the modification shown in Figs. 6 and 7 it is assumed that instead of the mouthpiece, a mask w is used provided with an inner auxiliary mask 03 which is connected with a breathing tube 03" in known manner. For holding the mask 01 head straps g are used, Figs. 6, 7 and 8, which are attached to the upper side corners of the mask,.and are passed through ops 6 to be connected with one another at tached to the cen re of the upper rim of the mask. The loops 6 are preferably formed by a metal holder attachedat the end of the skull strap 7, which itself is attached ,to' a special pull plate 3 by a buckle 4. The pull plate is moreover connected to the upper part of the mask on both sides by two temple straps 10, and is moreover provided with twobops 11 at its lower end, through which passes a strap 12, which with its ends is connrcted at 13 with the lower part of the mask. All these head straps pass. over the prot ction plate 71, andthus hold the protectior plate i and also the mask securely to the read.

The said straps may be attached to the guard plate for instance by a special cross strap 18 firmly attached at one end to the guard plate and passed through a loop 17 fastened to the guard plate. The strap 18 crosses the pull plate 3 and may be buttoned to a button 19 secured to the protective plate '2. The pull plate 3 being wedge-shaped at this end prevents sliding movements of the rotective plate 2'.

The straps g 10 and 12 may be made (Fig. 9) and finally atyielding by the insertion of intermediate elastic pieces 7 as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. It is evident that by the construction described all inconvenient pressure by the ;loops, buckles and the like are avoided.

'In'l'he construction shown the connection is secured by'a locking member or catch 23, which is rotatably attached to discs 25 on the protective plate 2' and passes through a reinforced slot 24 in the .cap, and after passing through the slot is turned for 90.

through locking the cap to the protective plate. The disc 25 attached to the protective plate 2' serves also as a guide for the skull strap 7 at both sides.

A guard plate 11 may also be used for the forehead, in'which case preferably a number of small guard-platesz" may be attached inside the cap. it as shown in Figs. 10, 11 and 12. Such forehead'guard plates may, if so desired be provided with ribs 6, and may also be made of leather or similar material.

I claim a 1. In a gas mask having a respiratory device, a harness consisting of a plurality of straps adapted to extend across and bear upon the wearers head to support the respiratory device inoperative position, a pro tective plate inserted between the head and said harness and adapted to bear upon the skull along an annular line without touching the area enclosed by said annular line, and a cap enclosing said plate and detachably attached thereto.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1, in which the straps are connected with each other and with the protective plate by means of buckles arranged in such a manner as to bear upon said protective plate.

3. In a gas mask having a respiratory device, a harness consisting of a plurality of straps adapted to extend across and bear upon the wearers head to support the respiratory device in'contact with the face, a

protective plate inserted between the head,

enclosed by said annular line, a locking memupon said plate, said harness ing adapte to support the respiratory device in operative position.

5. In a gas mask having a respiratory device, a head piece comprising a protective member so sha d as to bear upon the skull along an annu ar line without touching the area enclosed by said annular line, a cap enclosing said protective member and detachably attached thereto, a plurality of forehead guard plates attached to said cap, and supporting connections carrying the respiratory device and bearing on said protective member.

6. In a gas mask having a respiratory device, a head piece comprising a cap of pliable material adapted to be fitted to the head in the conventional manner so as to touch the head along a peripheral line, a plurality of forehead guard plates attached to said cap a resistant protective plate enclosed by and detachably attached to said cap and so shaped as to bear upon the. skull along an annular line situated above said peripheral line, and supporting straps carrying the respiratory device and extending across and bearing upon said protective plate.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ALEXANDER BERNHARD DRAGER. 

